Dennis L. Geisler, 54, of Wayne County, was sentenced to two years in the Randolph County jail in April after he pleaded guilty to causing a fatal traffic accident with a controlled substance in his system.

Authorities said Geisler had ingested methamphetamine before his semi, hauling a grain tractor, ran a red light at U.S. 27 and Greenville Pike in January 2012, slamming into a pickup truck driven by 82-year-old Charles Peterson of Winchester.

More than two weeks later, Peterson died of injuries he suffered in the accident.

Less than three months after being sentenced, Geisler — who is allowed to participate in a work-release program — filed a motion asking that he be allowed to spend the remainder of his term at his home.

Geisler — who drives from the Randolph County jail to his job in Rushville each day — wrote in his motion that he was spending so much each week on gasoline that he feared he would be unable to make his house payment.

“I know that I have to serve time for the crime that I committed, but I am just asking that I can serve it on home detention,” the felon wrote. “I am very sorry for what happened and I live with it every day.”

Dilworth said he would not agree to a modification of the sentence “unless (Geisler) wants to agree to go to prison for 10 years.”

Judge Haviza told the defendant that he lacked the authority to modify his sentence without the consent of prosecutors.